A friend asked me if I could help her out by showing my readers what she is busy with… Please read, pass on the info, support and visit the festival if you’re around!

9th Cordoba African Film Festival

The 9th Cordoba African Film Festival launches a crowdfunding campaign

The Cordoba African Film Festival announces the launching of an international crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, a website allowing people to become patrons of a cause by donating money in exchange for rewards.

“Despite a number of financial uncertainties, we have decided to take the risk and organize the coming edition”, says Mane Cisneros, FCAT Cordoba director. “The goal of our Indiegogo campaign is to raise 12 000 $ before the 30th of September”.

Over the past 8 editions, Cordoba African Film Festival has received support mainly from Spanish public institutions. Among them the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Casa Africa, the regional Government of Andalusia and the City Council of Cordoba. Today, barely a month away from the festival’s inauguration, several of the festival’s traditional donors have not yet confirmed their support. Only the City Council of Cordoba and the Andalusia regional government have so far confirmed a 160 000€ allocation. On another hand, the festival’s oldest and strongest donor, Casa Africa, has overnight withdrawn all support. This insecurity stems from the recent, sizable cutbacks in the Spanish government’s budget for culture (21% compared to last year) and development cooperation (72%).

Instead of cancelling the event, as has been the case with a great number of Spanish festivals, FCAT Cordoba organizers have decided to adapt to a budget half of last year’s. “Through crowdfunding we hope to cover part of the festival’s production and logistic expenses; other expected financial inflows will come from box office and merchandising sales”, says Mane Cisneros. “It only takes 5 minutes to make a donation through our campaign website; donors choose the amount they wish to donate, starting from 15€, and are then entitled to a variety of rewards which they can recover at the festival”. Beside the Indiegogo international platform, FCAT Cordoba has also launched a Spanish-speaking national campaign on La Tahona Cultural website in conformity with other Spanish endangered festivals.

“Despite a number of financial uncertainties, we have decided to take the risk and organize the coming edition”, says Mane Cisneros, FCAT Cordoba director. “The goal of our Indiegogo campaign is to raise 12 000 $ before the 30th of September”.

ABOUT CORDOBA AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL

he 9th Cordoba African Film Festival will showcase around 100 feature films, documentaries, short films and animated films from the African continent, virtually all unscreened in Spain. The festival program will feature 10 Official Sections, including a retrospective on Algerian cinema and a pan Arabic film section. Other than cinema, internationally acclaimed dancers Germaine Acogny and Chloé Brûlé will perform, during the inauguration ceremony, a unique choreography drawing on the African roots of flamenco.

Over the years, the African Film Festival has made a name for itself by conveying filmmakers, film professionals and journalists from African, Mediterranean and Arab countries. Until the 8th edition the festival took place in Tarifa, Europe’s southern city, and was known as FCAT Tarifa. In 2011, around 6000 attendees and 200 film professionals gathered at the festival, most of the latter coming from the African continent. This year, FCAT Cordoba will feature the 4th Coproduction forum, in which filmmakers from African and Arab countries will pitch their scenarios in closed doors sessions so as to get Spanish and European production companies involved in their film projects. Moreover, seminars and scheduled debates will provide an insightful space for filmmakers, the public, students and media to gather and exchange.

In other words, FCAT Cordoba will provide what it is best known for: an informal yet professional meeting point to find viable ways to support the African film industry and its spread in Europe and in Spanish speaking countries. The festival’s mission, despite a substantial lack of funding, is to support, spread and promote filmmaking as well as other artistic expressions to effectively aid in the consolidation of the many African and Arab cultural identities.

Beyond the event, FCAT Cordoba’s aim to spread African films in Spanish-speaking countries continues through its program Cinenomada. Thanks to the Festival film archive, a collection including more than 700 African titles in original version subtitled in Spanish, Cinenomada has already travelled to 49 cities and has provided films in more than 220 cinema sessions and festivals in Spain. Since 2006, also in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, where access to African films is likely to be difficult, FCAT Cordoba has contributed to the ‘africanization’ of film festival programs. Last but not least, the festival’s yearly catalogues are an indispensable tool for event programmers all over the world.

Without FCAT Cordoba and its film archive, African films will be doomed to disappear from Spanish screens.

Film Program of the 9th Cordoba African Film Festival

Competitive Sections:

The African Dream: section on feature films made by African directors and / or produced by an African country in the last 2 years;

On the other side of the Strait: section dedicated to documentaries made by African directors and / or produced by an African country in the last 2 years;

Africa in Short: section dedicated to short films by African directors and / or produced by an African country in the last 2 years.